Hello inter-webbers! It’s been a while. So very sorry for not posting anything for so long. I’ve been extremely busy at work and at life. So many things are happening all at once that I haven’t a clue how to categorize the events in my finite mortal brain. It was (and still is) crazy. But I shall be back at it again. I’ve been writing a lot of short stories, and I’m planning to develop some of them into short comics. You’ll notice that I’ve added a comic section at the menu bar above. Check back for updates!!

I want to also take a moment and say thank you to all of my followers. You guys are awesome. Seriously. You are. And I won’t forget my peeps over on Facebook. You guys are seriously awesome as well. What is art, after all, if there’s no one to witness it? Gratitude to all!!!!!!

This is the last piece from the series base on James Joyce’s short story “The Encounter.” It is the bridge where the boy narrator waited for his friend. The colors are in crazy exaggeration! And it makes it kinda romantic.

I’ve been looking at Feng Zhu’s stuff a lot. He’s just incredibly talented in his art work and in his teachings. I highly recommend watching his youtube courses, and you can find it here. He is the founder of the FZD School located in Singapore, to which I hope to visit one of these days. Also check out his blog: here.

Here’s a value study of one of his pieces. Not nearly as great as the original, but I just wanted to get a feel of his technique of creating distance using “atmospheric fog.”

A character piece based on the narrator of James Joyce’s short story “The Encounter.” He’s waiting for his mate Mahony to arrive as they planned a day of “miching” (ditching school). He was very happy sitting there by himself. This one was done in Coral Paint, something my class has been using and am beginning to really like. It mimics paint stroke textures really well. I know, I know…why don’t I just use traditional media if I want the brush texture? You traditionalist may laugh at me, but I just HATE the time it takes to mix all the colors. Absolutely hate it. I don’t have that problem with digital (and it saves my carpet from those horrific paint stains). A big thanks to my friend Marvin for the pose!

A quick digi-paint referenced from an anonymous photo (I really should keep track of my references, I know). Two versions: one without any textures (which looks almost like graffiti art) and another with textures. Personally I like the second one more because it reminds me of old photos with a sort of modern twist.

I’ve always wanted to do a story with a nameless, wondering cat as a protagonist. It snoops around observing people without them noticing. A sort of modernized version of Soseki Natsume’s “I Am a Cat.” (This piece was referenced from an anonymous photograph.)